Understanding the nutritional benefits through plant proteins-probiotics interactions: mechanisms, challenges, and perspectives.

The nutritional benefits of combining probiotics with plant proteins have sparked increasing research interest and drawn significant attention. The interactions between plant proteins and probiotics demonstrate substantial potential for enhancing the functionality of plant proteins. Fermented plant protein foods offer a unique blend of bioactive components and beneficial microorganisms that can enhance gut health and combat chronic diseases. Utilizing various probiotic strains and plant protein sources opens doors to develop innovative probiotic products with enhanced functionalities. Nonetheless, the mechanisms and synergistic effects of these interactions remain not fully understood. This review aims to delve into the roles of promoting health through the intricate interplay of plant proteins and probiotics. The regulatory mechanisms have been elucidated to showcase the synergistic effects, accompanied by a discussion on the challenges and future research prospects. It is essential to recognize that the interactions between plant proteins and probiotics encompass multiple mechanisms, highlighting the need for further research to address challenges in achieving a comprehensive understanding of these mechanisms and their associated health benefits.

Natural antioxidants enhance the oxidation stability of blended oils enriched in unsaturated fatty acids.

BACKGROUND: Rancidity causes unpleasant tastes and smells, and the degradation of fatty acids and natural antioxidants, so that an oil is unfit to be consumed. Natural antioxidants, including tocopherols, polyphenols (sesamol, canolol, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, etc.), ß-carotene, squalene and phytosterols, contribute to delay the oxidation of vegetable oils. However, studies on the combination of natural antioxidants to lengthen the shelf life of unsaturated fatty acid-rich blended oil have not been reported. RESULTS: All of the composite antioxidants had the potential to significantly improve the oxidation stability of blended oil. Blended oil G with 0.05 g kg-1 ß-carotene, 0.25 g kg-1 sesamol and 0.25 g kg-1 caffeic acid showed the best anti-autooxidation. It is also effective in improving the oxidative stability of vegetable oils containing various fatty acids. The oxidation stability index of the blended oil containing the optimum composition of natural antioxidants was 2.17-fold longer than that of the control sample. After the end of accelerated oxidation, the oil's peroxide value, p-anisidine value and total oxidation value were 6.59 times, 12.26 times and 6.65 times lower than those of the control sample, respectively. CONCLUSION: (1) The combination of natural antioxidants ß-carotene (0.05 g kg-1 ), sesamol (0.25 g kg-1 ) and caffeic acid (0.25 g kg-1 ) enhances the oxidative stability of unsaturated fatty acid-rich blended oils. (2) ß-Carotene is the main antioxidant in the early stages of oxidation. (3) Sesamol and caffeic acid are the main antioxidants in the middle and late stages of oxidation. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Toward a see-through camera via AR lightguide.

As the foundation of virtual content generation, cameras are crucial for augmented reality (AR) applications, yet their integration with transparent displays has remained a challenge. Prior efforts to develop see-through cameras have struggled to achieve high resolution and seamless integration with AR displays. In this work, we present LightguideCam, a compact and flexible see-through camera based on an AR lightguide. To address the overlapping artifacts in measurement, we present a compressive sensing algorithm based on an equivalent imaging model that minimizes computational consumption and calibration complexity. We validate our design using a commercial AR lightguide and demonstrate a field of view of 23.1° and an angular resolution of 0.1° in the prototype. Our LightguideCam has great potential as a plug-and-play extensional imaging component in AR head-mounted displays, with promising applications for eye-gaze tracking, eye-position perspective photography, and improved human-computer interaction devices, such as full-screen mobile phones.

Explicit-restriction convolutional framework for lensless imaging.

Mask-based lensless cameras break the constraints of traditional lens-based cameras, introducing highly flexible imaging systems. However, the inherent restrictions of imaging devices lead to low reconstruction quality. To overcome this challenge, we propose an explicit-restriction convolutional framework for lensless imaging, whose forward model effectively incorporates multiple restrictions by introducing the linear and noise-like nonlinear terms. As examples, numerical and experimental reconstructions based on the limitation of sensor size, pixel pitch, and bit depth are analyzed. By tailoring our framework for specific factors, better perceptual image quality or reconstructions with 4× pixel density can be achieved. This proposed framework can be extended to lensless imaging systems with different masks or structures.

Activation of Main-Group Antimony Atomic Sites for Oxygen Reduction Catalysis.

The catalytic activity of main-group metal is hard to promote because of the intrinsic lack of host d orbitals available to be combined. Herein, under the guidance of theoretical predictions, we find atom-dispersed antimony sites (Sb-N4 moieties) can be activated to achieve high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity using a functional group regulation strategy. Correspondingly, we manage to synthesize a main-group Sb single-atom catalysts (SACs) that comprises Sb-N4 active moieties functionalized by epoxy groups in the second microenvironment and incorporated in N-doped graphene (Sb1 /NG(O)). The electron-rich epoxy group can adjust the electronic structure of Sb-N4 active moieties, thereby optimizing the adsorption of the intermediate. The Sb SACs are comparable to industrial Pt/C under alkaline conditions. This discovery provides new opportunities to manipulate and improve the catalytic activity of main-group-element electrocatalysts.

Urinary malate dehydrogenase 2 is a new biomarker for early detection of non-small-cell lung cancer.

Reliable and noninvasive biomarkers for the early diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are an unmet need. This study aimed to screen and validate potential urinary biomarkers for the early diagnosis of NSCLC. Using protein mass spectrometry, urinary MDH2 was found to be abundant both in patients with lung cancer and lung cancer model mice compared with controls. Urine samples obtained as retrospective and prospective cohorts including 1091 NSCLC patients and 736 healthy controls were measured using ELISA. Patients with stage I NSCLC had higher urinary MDH2 compared with healthy controls. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) for the urinary MDH2 was 0.7679 and 0.7234 in retrospective and prospective cohorts to distinguish stage I cases from controls. Urinary MDH2 levels correlated with gender and smoking history. MDH2 expression levels were elevated in lung cancer tissues. MDH2 knockdown using shRNA inhibited the proliferation of lung cancer cells. Our study demonstrated that urinary MDH2 concentration was higher in early-stage NSCLC patients compared with that in controls and that MDH2 could serve as a potential biomarker for early detection of NSCLC.

IL-8 exacerbates alcohol-induced fatty liver disease via the Akt/HIF-1α pathway in human IL-8-expressing mice.

Alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) is a disease that causes liver damage due to chronic heavy drinking. AFLD is related to lipid accumulation in liver cells caused by alcohol intake. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is an inflammatory cytokine associated with chemotaxis (deletion in mice) that has robust effects on the occurrence and development of disease by activating related signal transduction pathways to promote inflammation and cell proliferation. There is significantly increased IL-8 expression in liver disease, which may be related to the pathogenesis of AFLD. In this study, we used hydrodynamic injection to deliver the liver-specific expression vector pLIVE-hIL-8 into mice. We found that hIL-8 can exacerbate alcohol-induced fatty liver disease via the Akt/HIF-1α pathway. Exacerbated liver lipid degeneration in mice, which is characterized by excessive accumulation of triglycerides, and liver damage markers were significantly increased. Moreover, hIL-8 could increase the alcohol-induced release of ROS in fatty liver caused by alcohol and exacerbate fatty liver disease. The expression of liver lipid metabolism-related gene sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) was increased. Furthermore, the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), which is related to liver fatty acid oxidation, was decreased. The findings obtained in this study of hIL-8 will help identify a potential target for the clinical treatment of AFLD.

How size, edge shape, functional groups and embeddedness influence the electronic structure and partial optical properties of graphene nanoribbons.

The armchair and zigzag edge shape makes graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) exhibit interest in different applications. However, the relationship between influencing factors and properties is not clear. Herein, the many-body Green's function theory and the TDDFT method are used to investigate the effect of size, edge shape and functional groups on the electronic and optical properties of GNRs and h-BN-embedded GNRs. We find that ZGNRs have a smaller band gap and absorption edge than AGNRs having the same size and functional groups. The relationship between S1 and T1 is mainly determined by the size and edge shape of GNRs, while the redox ability of water splitting mainly relies on the kind of the functional group. When h-BN is embedded in GNRs, the edge shape of GNRs and the contact part between two substances control the direction of electron transfer in both the ground state and the excited state. These results can provide theoretical support for further improvements and applications of GNRs.

Chitosan and Whey Protein Bio-Inks for 3D and 4D Printing Applications with Particular Focus on Food Industry.

The application of chitosan (CS) and whey protein (WP) alone or in combination in 3D/4D printing has been well considered in previous studies. Although several excellent reviews on additive manufacturing discussed the properties and biomedical applications of CS and WP, there is a lack of a systemic review about CS and WP bio-inks for 3D/4D printing applications. Easily modified bio-ink with optimal printability is a key for additive manufacturing. CS, WP, and WP-CS complex hydrogel possess great potential in making bio-ink that can be broadly used for future 3D/4D printing, because CS is a functional polysaccharide with good biodegradability, biocompatibility, non-immunogenicity, and non-carcinogenicity, while CS-WP complex hydrogel has better printability and drug-delivery effectivity than WP hydrogel. The review summarizes the current advances of bio-ink preparation employing CS and/or WP to satisfy the requirements of 3D/4D printing and post-treatment of materials. The applications of CS/WP bio-ink mainly focus on 3D food printing with a few applications in cosmetics. The review also highlights the trends of CS/WP bio-inks as potential candidates in 4D printing. Some promising strategies for developing novel bio-inks based on CS and/or WP are introduced, aiming to provide new insights into the value-added development and commercial CS and WP utilization.

The strawberry transcription factor FaRAV1 positively regulates anthocyanin accumulation by activation of FaMYB10 and anthocyanin pathway genes.

The RAV (related to ABI3/viviparous 1) group of transcription factors (TFs) play multifaceted roles in plant development and stress responses. Here, we show that strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) FaRAV1 positively regulates anthocyanin accumulation during fruit ripening via a hierarchy of activation processes. Dual-luciferase assay screening of all fruit-expressed AP2/ERFs showed FaRAV1 had the highest transcriptional activation of the promoter of FaMYB10, a key activator of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Yeast one-hybrid and electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated that FaRAV1 could directly bind to the promoter of FaMYB10. Transient overexpression of FaRAV1 in strawberry fruit increased FaMYB10 expression and anthocyanin production significantly. Correspondingly, transient RNA interference-induced silencing of FaRAV1 led to decreases in FaMYB10 expression and anthocyanin content. Transcriptome analysis of FaRAV1-overexpressing strawberry fruit revealed that transcripts of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis pathway genes were up-regulated. Luciferase assays showed that FaRAV1 could also activate the promoters of strawberry anthocyanin biosynthetic genes directly, revealing a second level of FaRAV1 action in promoting anthocyanin accumulation. These results show that FaRAV1 stimulates anthocyanin accumulation in strawberry both by direct activation of anthocyanin pathway gene promoters and by up-regulation of FaMYB10, which also positively regulates these genes.

Hydrogen Confined in a Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Becomes a Metallic and Superconductive Nanowire under High Pressure.

Metallic hydrogen is a long-desired material. However, the pressure needed to metallize hydrogen is difficult to access experimentally. We demonstrated that the high-density of hydrogen confined in a (8,0) single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) can be metallized at a relative low pressure of 163.5 GPa, due to the " physical compression" effect of SWNT. Through mimicking experimental measurements of the specific heat of confined hydrogen nanowire, we showed that the electronic specific heat of the hydrogen has a clear jump around 225 K, verifying a superconducting transition at this critical temperature. The superconducting hydrogen can be very well explained by the Eliashberg superconductivity theory for an electron-phonon strong-coupling system. Our simulation results open an avenue for the study of nanohydrogen materials at high pressure.

Optical properties of semiconducting zigzag carbon nanotubes with and without defects.

The excited states of a series of semiconducting zigzag (n, 0) tubes are studied using the GW method and the Bethe-Salpeter equation within the ab initio many-body perturbation theory. The optical variation rule of the excitation energy with the tube diameter exhibits a family pattern, which arises from the electronic structure of the pristine tube and depends on the value of n mod 3. The introduction of single vacancy and Stone-Wales defects with different orientations affords an effective route for modulating the band structures and optical spectra, resulting in the variation of the selection rules of the excitons and turning dipole-forbidden excitons into dipole-allowed ones. The new localized impurity states in defected tubes will provide additional optically allowed transitions and give rise to pronounced satellite red-shifted peaks. These findings provide inspiration for the tune of optical properties of carbon nanotubes in the future for applications in optoelectronics.

Ti-Ti σ bond at oxygen vacancy inducing the deep defect level in anatase TiO2 (101) surface.

Using the GW method within many-body perturbation theory, we investigate the quasiparticle structures of defects, including oxygen vacancy, Ti interstitial, and hydroxyl groups, in the anatase TiO2 (101) surface. We find that the deep defect state in this surface observed experimentally, which is 1 eV below the Fermi level, originates from the σ bond formed between 3d orbitals of the two under-coordinated Ti atoms at the surface oxygen vacancy. Different from the density functional theory modified with on-site Coulomb terms (DFT + U), the GW method predicts that the localized polaron in anatase (101) is a shallow defect state close to the conduction band bottom. Polaronic states play the role in pinning the Fermi level of anatase near the conduction band bottom. Our GW calculations can explain satisfactorily the coexistence of shallow and deep defect states in anatase as observed in experiments. We also find that the conduction band edge of anatase is drawn down greatly after the filling of original empty Ti 3d orbitals by excess electrons, making the calculated bandgap of the reduced anatase agree well with the experiments. This significant difference in the bandgap between the intact and the reduced anatase is missed in DFT + U.

Electronic energy transfer studied by many-body Green's function theory.

We present a combination of many-body Green's function theory and Förster-Dexter theory to estimate the excitation energy transfer (EET) coupling in both the isolated and condensed systems. This approach employs the accurate wave functions of excitons, which are derived from the Bethe-Salpeter equation, in the donor and acceptor to set up the electronic coupling terms. Dexter coupling, which arises from the exchange-correlation effect, is evaluated based on the GW method which is a state-of-the-art ab initio theory for the description of self-energy. This approach is applicable to various situations, especially for periodic systems. The approach is tested on some model molecular dimers and compared with other high-level quantum chemistry methods together with the exact supermolecule scheme. Finally, we apply it to study the EET between periodic single-walled carbon nanotubes, exploring the dependence of EET on the chirality of nanotubes and the type of excitation transferred, finding that dark states play key roles in the EET between nanotubes. The EET rate falls as ∼D-12 approximately with the distance D between nanotubes for small D, much faster than the traditional Förster model.

Mediating both valence and conduction bands of TiO2 by anionic dopants for visible- and infrared-light photocatalysis.

Doping is an effective way to extend the optical absorption of TiO2 to the visible range. Doping of TiO2 by carbon has been found to enhance the water splitting efficiency significantly in experiment. However, the mechanism behind this is elusive. Using the ab initio many-body Green's function theory, we find that the C2 dimer formed on the TiO2 surface produces a shallow delocalized occupied Ti 3d state just below the bottom of the conduction bands. Therefore, band-gap narrowing in carbon-doped TiO2 is caused by the opposite shifts of both valence and conduction bands simultaneously, which is in contrast to the generally accepted idea that anionic dopants can only affect the valence band of TiO2. Optical absorption in the infrared region is also increased compared to reduced TiO2. The spatially well-separated photogenerated electrons and holes might help to reduce the recombination rate of carriers, in favor of improvement in photocatalysis efficiency. This novel behavior of anionic dopants is distinct from previous understandings and may guide the engineering of TiO2.

Variation of optical spectra of water clusters with size from many-body Green's function theory.

Water clusters are an important species in the environment and atmosphere and take part in various chemical and biological reactions. How their optical properties vary with size is still an open question. Using the GW method and Bethe-Salpeter equation within the ab initio many-body Green's function theory, we study the electronic excitations in a series of water clusters (H2O)n with n = 1-48. We find that their absorption peaks blueshift with increasing cluster size due to the reducing electron-hole binding energy which arises from the enhanced electronic screening and gradually delocalized excitonic spatial distribution. The position of the first absorption peak has a close relation to the average number of hydrogen bonds per molecule. Off-diagonal matrix elements of the self-energy operator have pronounced effects on the unoccupied electronic levels and optical absorption for small clusters with n ≤ 10 when using density functional theory as the starting point for GW calculations. Although the optical absorption is predominated by delocalized excitons, highly localized excitons on a single water molecule are always present on the cluster surface in the vicinity of the absorption edge. These localized excitons may facilitate the photodissociation of water molecules. This can provide inspiration on the excited-state dynamics and photolysis in water clusters.

The mechanism for the formation of OH radicals in condensed-phase water under ultraviolet irradiation.

Irradiation on liquid water and ice by ultraviolet light in the range of 150-200 nm can create volatile OH radicals which react with other organic and inorganic molecules actively. However, the mechanism for OH radical formation in the condensed-phase water in this energy range is still unclear. To uncover this mechanism we studied the excited-state behaviors of ice using first-principles calculations based on many-body Green's function theory. First, we showed that the long-wavelength optical absorption at the Urbach tail (190-300 nm) can be attributed to inherent hydroxide ions or transient structures formed in the autoionization process. Second, we revealed that creation of the OH radicals can be attributed to two mechanisms. Irradiation by the light at the Urbach tail excites an electron out of the hydroxide ion, leaving a neutral OH radical behind. By the light around 150 nm, OH radicals can be produced barrierlessly via direct water photolysis through concerted proton and electron transfer. Our results provide valuable insights into the excited-state dynamics of condensed-phase water, helping us understand in depth the photocatalytic reactions, radiation biology and chemistry.

Enhanced piezoelectricity of monolayer phosphorene oxides: a theoretical study.

Two-dimensional (2D) piezoelectric materials have potential applications in miniaturized sensors and energy conversion devices. In this work, using first-principles simulations at different scales, we systematically study the electronic structures and piezoelectricity of a series of 2D monolayer phosphorene oxides (POs). Our calculations show that the monolayer POs have tunable band gaps along with remarkable piezoelectric properties. The calculated piezoelectric coefficient d11 of 54 pm V-1 in POs is much larger than those of 2D transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers and the widely used bulk α-quartz and AlN, and almost reaches the level of the piezoelectric effect in recently discovered 2D GeS. Furthermore, two other considerable piezoelectric coefficients, i.e., d31 and d26 with values of -10 pm V-1 and 21 pm V-1, respectively, are predicted in some monolayer POs. We also examine the correlation between the piezoelectric coefficients and energy stability. The enhancement of piezoelectricity for monolayer phosphorene by oxidation will broaden the applications of phosphorene and phosphorene derivatives in nano-sized electronic and piezotronic devices.

Influence of functional groups on water splitting in carbon nanodot and graphitic carbon nitride composites: a theoretical mechanism study.

The coupling of carbon nanodots (C-Dots) with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has been demonstrated to boost the overall photocatalytic solar water splitting efficiency. However, the understanding on the role of the C-Dots and how the structure of C-Dots influences the photocatalytic reaction is still limited. In this work, we investigate the excited states of some C-Dot/g-C3N4 composites with the C-Dots containing different functional groups including -OH, -CHO and -COOH by first-principles many-body Green's function theory. It is found that the increase of efficiency can be ascribed to the high separation rate and the low recombination rate of the electron-hole pair benefiting from the emergence of the charge-transfer excited state between the C-Dots and g-C3N4. Functional groups on the C-Dots play a crucial role in determining the charge transfer direction, active sites for reduction reaction and oxidation reaction of water, and whether the reaction is a four-electron process or a two-electron/two-electron process. These results can provide guidance for the design and optimization of the C-Dots for heterojunction photocatalysts.

Electronic structures of rutile (011)(2 × 1) surfaces: A many-body perturbation theory study.

Using the GW method within many-body perturbation theory, we investigate the electronic properties of the rutile (011) surfaces with different reconstruction patterns. We find that keeping the Ti:O ratio on the reconstructedsurface to 1:2 enlarges the bandgap of the rutile (011) surface to ca. 4.0 eV. Increasing the content of O atoms in the surface can turn rutile into a semi-metal. For some surfaces, it is important to apply self-consistent GW calculation to get the correct charge distributions for the frontier orbitals, which are relevant to the photocatalytic behavior of TiO2.